You know better than anyone that marketing your products or services at the small business level is tough, unforgiving work. You need to know your customers as well as you know your spouse—or perhaps even better! Given this high level of familiarity, you know which problems they have, the best answers to solve those problems, and exactly when to deliver appropriate answers.

Yet, most small businesses simply talk about their company and what they do. That’s certainly a great start, but your customers must feel confident you have the best solution available for what they’re willing to pay.

With this in mind, let’s talk a little bit more about the customer buying journey.

1. Keep in Mind 4 Stages: Awareness, Evaluation, Purchase, and the One Almost Every Business Forgets

During the awareness stage, consumers have a slight notion of a problem they need you to solve. They’re not ready to buy yet, so you can’t sell to them. Instead, you need to demonstrate that you understand their problem so you can then discuss a solution.

The evaluation stage works just as it sounds, wherein consumers compare your product or service to all other options available.

Can you guess what happens during the third “purchase” stage? One key action to take at this point is to ask for your customer’s e-mail address. You know they like you, and they might want to buy more from you if your product or service rocks their world.

During the final post-purchase stage, it’s important to maintain the relationship so you remain top of mind when they’re ready to buy again. Something as simple as an informative e-newsletter can get the job done during this oft-forgotten stage.

2. You Need to Deliver Content at Every Stage of the Cycle

The form of this content can vary and perhaps takes shape as a blog post, video, infographic, special report, case study, e-mail autoresponder series, newsletter, or even just an image. Whatever it is, it should be simple, valuable, and useful. It’s a good idea to switch up content formats to see how your market responds. For example, maybe you repurpose the exact same type of content into several different formats.

If you’re wondering which topics to home in on, simply think of the most pressing questions your customers ask you. Or ask them in person what they’d like to know more about. Then create a piece of content that answers these questions. Yes, it really is that easy.

You Don’t Need Fancy Tools, But You Do Need to Put in the Hard Work

You’ll hear about all kinds of fancy SEO and marketing automation tools you need to make online marketing work. While you do need some of these, it’s always a good idea to outsource your digital marketing.

There’s no need to be super-fancy and elaborate. Instead, old-fashioned diligence as you listen to your customers and solve their problems better than anyone else will win their business. Just a couple of carefully curated content pieces per month can make that happen.